James George (Immortal 32 Gonzales Ranger)

GEORGE, JAMES (1802–1836). James George, Alamo defender, the son of William and Elizabeth (Bland) George, was born in 1802. At the time of the Texas Revolution he was a resident of Gonzales and was married to Elizabeth Dearduff, the sister of Alamo defender William Dearduff. In the fall of 1835 a yoke of oxen and a set of gearing owned by George was pressed into service to haul the famous Gonzales "Come and Take It" cannon. George rode to the Alamo with the relief force from Gonzales and arrived on March 1, 1836. He died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.

from: http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fge23

James George was a resident of Gonzales and rifleman in the Gonzales Rangers. According to Adina de Zavala in History & Legends of the Alamo & Other Missions in & Around San Antonio, James George was Sargent under Lieutenant George Kimble of the Gonzales Rangers as they left Gonzales in relief of the Alamo. According to some records James George was born in 1802 in VA and was the son of William and Elizabeth Bland George, descendants of Henry George, one of the founders of the Jamestown Colony of VA. The research of other descendants contend that James was not from the line of Henry George of Jamestown. It is thought that James George may have been born in Pennsylvania, but the exact site has not been located. James George's father was Robert George, thought to be an Irish immigrant in the period 1794-1796 who was naturalized in 1805 and died in 1806. He was at one time a resident of CumberlandCo, PA. James George's mother is thought to have been named Mary. He had an older sister named Jane, a younger one named Elizabeth and a younger brother named John. The 1800 census indicates he had five other older sisters. PA records indicate that James George, over age 14 and son of Robert George, deceased, was seeking a guardian. John Boden, believed to be an uncle, was appointed guardian. Two daughters of Robert George were assigned to John Jackson as guardian, believed to be their stepfather. After moving to GreeneCo, Ohio he bought several tracts of land and married Elizabeth Dearduff of Ohio or VA in 1821. He arrived in the DeWitt Colony 20 Feb 1830 according to his land grant title with wife and three children. Orphans of James George were listed as Mary Jane, Margaret, Rachel, Matilda and Henry, who was possibly named after a grandfather. Henry died at age 19.

According to some family historians, the George family of five came to Texas from Fayetteville, FayetteCo, Tennessee, but others contend there is no evidence that the Georges or Dearduffs were ever in Tennessee. One researcher suggested that George first made a trip to Texas in 1829 from Missouri and returned for his family after choosing the place on Plum Creek south of current Lockhart. The Georges and Almaron Dickinson families are thought to have come to TX together. They are said to have come via the Mississippi River then by land across Arkansas through Nacogdoches along the Trammell Trace. James George's league on Plum Creek in northern CaldwellCo borders the Byrd Lockhart league on which the town of Lockhart developed. With the help of brother-in-law William Dearduff, they build their first dog-trot cabin on the grant. George also owned lots in the west outer Gonzales town tract on the San Marcos River. On 10 Dec 1835 James George sold three pounds of powder, twelve pounds of lead and 1.75 bushels of peas to the provisional government of TX. He was paid $59 for for 14 days service with a wagon and two yokes of oxen and 2 ox bows furnished to San Antonio and La Bahia. It is thought that this indicates that the Gonzales cannon was utilized in the Battle of Bexar and at La Bahia and James George may have been there with it. A document signed by Col. Neill certified that the unit ordered one yoke of oxen and gearing for hauling the Gonzales cannon and the oxen are now crippled beyond use. Upon his departure for the Alamo, James George enjoined the aid of periodic hired hand John A. Rowe to look after the family's safety in his absence. After the Alamo defeat, his widow Elizabeth Dearduff George and children joined in the flight to the Sabine River (Runaway Scrape) with a cart containing some belongings and some cows. At one point the two younger girls, Mary and Rachel, fell from the cart and became mired in mud in the confusion and separated from their mother and sister Margaret who was tending the cows. Fortunately, accompanying settlers spotted them and returned them to their mother. Widow Elizabeth George returned to the devastated Plum Creek homestead and later married Fredrick Rowe who acted as agent of James George in the Gonzales Tax Rolls of 1838. Rowe petitioned the probate court of Gonzales on 25 Jun 1838 for administration of the estate of his wife's slain husband James George and brother William Dearduff. Notice was given in the Telegraph and Texas Register 7 Jul 1838. Known relatives were listed in the Austin City Gazette. (Updated and revised material on the background of James George and family as described above relative to the article below was provided by Joyce Speer Moore).

James and Elizabeth Dearduff George. James William George was born in Virginia in 1802, the descendant of Henry George, one of the settlers of the Jamestown Colony [see correction above]. He married in 1821 Elizabeth Dearduff of Ohio or Virginia. The Georges were Baptists and Masons. On February 20, 1830 James George arrived in Gonzales, Texas with his wife, Elizabeth Dearduff George, and children Mary Jane, Margaret and Rachel, all three born in Ohio. He was given one sitio of land on Plum Creek as one of the original settlers of DeWitt's Colony. In 1831 a son Henry was born and another daughter, Matilda, was born in 1834. On December 10, 1835 James George sold three pounds of powder, twelve pounds of lead, one and three-fourths bushels of peas to the provisional government of Texas, and "….rendered fourteen days service with waggon and two yokes of oxen and 2 ox bows furnished to San Antonio and La Bahia…" for which he was paid $59.50 according to documents in the Texas State Archives. Another document stated "This is to certify that I demanded and received, unto the public service, for halling the Gonzales Cannon to San Antonio: one yoke of oxen and all necessary geering; belonging to James George and that said yoke of oxen is now so much cripled as to render it unfit for service. November 23, 1835, H. Neill, Capt." On February 24, 1836 James William George along with his brother in law William Dearduff joined Major Williamson's command as privates and left for the Alamo where they both died March 6, 1836. Elizabeth Dearduff George, widow of James George, married Frederick Rowe after George's death sometime before 1838 when she filed papers claiming land as his heir. While married to Rowe she had a daughter Elizabeth. Rowe was apparently drowned in Plum Creek while searching for cattle in 1840. On January 21, 1841 Elizabeth George Rowe married Thomas Hoskins. Mary Jane, oldest child of James and Elizabeth George, married John W. Craig May 27, 1839. Mary Jane was dead by 1850 as her mother Elizabeth Hoskins was listed in the 1850 Caldwell County, Texas census. Also in her household were Matilda George sixteen, Elizabeth Rowe eleven, Sara Ann Hoskins nine, John T. Hoskins five and Elizabeth Craig five months. In 1853 Charles Hood filed for guardianship of minors James, Mary Ann and Elizabeth Craig. In February, 1855 Robert Happ was appointed administrator for John W. Craig, deceased. Margaret, second child of James and Elizabeth George, married Simon Fraser September 20, 1844. In December, 1849 Simon was dead and Margaret was left a widow with Henry four and Elizabeth two in the 1850 census. She must have been pregnant at the time of his death as she had Simon in 1850. Margaret married Charles Hood after the death of Simon Fraser and had children Rachel (1852), Emily (1856) and Charles (1859). Charles Hood Sr. died in Atascosa County, Texas in 1861 leaving Margaret a widow again. In 1862 Margaret watched from across the river while an Indian killed her oldest son Henry Fraser. She hid in the brush while holding her hand over baby Charles' mouth to keep him from crying out. Henry was buried in the Devine, Texas Cemetery. Margaret later married Doctor Wilkerson, died in 1896 and was buried at Devine. Rachel, third child of James and Elizabeth George, married James Brown from Scotland. In 1850 they were living in Caldwell County with son Allen four months, Henry George, James Craig and Mary Ann Craig. She later moved to Atascosa County, Texas. Matilda, the fifth child of James and Elizabeth George, married Joseph Alexander May 20, 1852. They remained in Caldwell County and she was buried in the Dale, Texas Cemetery. Henry, the only son of James and Elizabeth George, died December 15, 1853 at the age of twenty-two. The cause of death was unknown or was it known whether he married. His mother, Elizabeth Dearduff George Rowe Hoskins, died in January, 1854. Thomas Hoskins was appointed the guardian of the Hoskins minors. J. Alexander was appointed guardian of Elizabeth Rowe, a minor daughter. Joyce Spear Moore. (From The History of Gonzales County, Texas. Reprinted by permission of the Gonzales County Historical Commission).

A memorial to Alamo Defender James George and widow Elizabeth Dearduff was dedicated at the Dale, CaldwellCo, TX cemetery on 4 Mar 2000.

Source: http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/gonzalesrangersf-k.htm